


In the Beginning

by Benne



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 05:16:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8191603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Benne/pseuds/Benne
Summary: The world is ending. Asher knows this for a fact, as he is in the front line. As a doctor he doesn't have a choice but to see it all fold out in front of him. Until one day people come to his empty apartment, and tell him that the world has a second chance, he could be a part of the salvation as long as he promises one thing. Never step back out into the world ever again.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> For those that have stumbled upon this, this is very much a work in progress and I am just hashing out chapters to the stories that live in my head. 
> 
> If you do read it I've love to hear what you think! Thanks!

Prologue

There wasn’t much to watch on T.V. these days. Sure, the streaming companies had kept up their services, so in theory there were millions of shows that Asher could pick from to watch. But he didn’t want to stream anything from the past, it had turned in to his silent resolve over the past few months that he didn’t want to watch anything that wasn’t new. He didn’t know when he’d really only have the past to lean on in this hellacious present. He closed his eyes and as randomly as he could, pressed a number on the remote.

_‘as Stacy was stating earlier, it has been 60 days since the President declared national state of emergency and’_

Asher found himself slamming his thumb down on the power button. It had been a stupid idea to think that television would be able to take his mind off of the calamity. He took a deep breath and tried to remember sounds of laugher. The giggles that he could coax out of his niece and nephew as he reprised his role as Sir Ticklealot and attacked them while his agile fingers. He had loved the sounds they made has they reduced to puddles of squeals and gasping giggles. They’d hug him to stop the tenacious Sir Ticklealot because, the Sir was not immune to hugs and that was the sure way to stop him.

He had to stop. He had to stop remembering, he still had 4 hours left on the shift and a red eyed doctor was not what the next patient would want to see.

“Hey, man!” Asher looked towards the door to see Carlos walking in with what looked like two cups of coffee.

“Carlos, you bring me gifts!” He pulled through  smile and reached out to Carlos for a cup before scooting over to make room on the sofa.

“You’re welcome Asher” He grinned as he took a seat on the sofa next to him.

Asher took a moment to take in his friend and recent colleague. Although he was wearing a faint smile, he could see the slight pull at the edge of Carlos’s mouth. The scrubs he was in, looked clean enough, but like they had been through a week’s rotation in wear.

They sat silently and sipped.

“I find it odd” he started “that you are still able to source coffee pods for that machine of yours”.

Carlos laughed into his coffee and quickly quipped back “Asher, we should be thanking the giant retailers for having been so aggressive during the last twenty years with all their robot technology. Did you know that most of their facilities are still running at over 80%?” Asher shook his head but motioned Carlos to continue with the story. “Yeah, Amanda found out the other day from one of her friends that still works there, man can you imagine still working in retail? I don’t know if she’s getting paid or does it for the good of souls like us but… Any how, since, well since this all started they just had some of their people mess around with some algorithms and shifted around their warehouses. Moved things up and out of areas that are gone. ‘course we now have to sign a waiver when buying things, but I think most don’t care.” Asher watched as Carlos took another sip of his coffee and stare off into a random corner of the doctors’ lounge.

There wasn’t much to look at. The shelves were stocked up neatly of things, neon post its hung over slots that were empty stating what should have been there and who was the gate keeper of that item now that things were harder to come by. This had once been strictly the cardiology unit but it now was just another wing of triage care. Plastic sheets hung around every door, window and corner trying to seal as much of the rooms off as they can. But they all knew that it wasn’t working, air, it turns out was a lot harder to seal out on a massive scale. 

During some of the moments that Asher let his mind wander, he wondered about the space colony that was being built, and all the experiments that had been sent to the moon and mars. They were supposed to be sealed, to keep all foreign, in this case earthly bacteria out, but he wasn’t sure how exactly they had managed it so well.

“Spacesuits” he heard Carlos say.

He must have been drifting, and thinking aloud again.

“Have you been able to sleep much lately?”

“Depends, but I’ve been able to get 5-6 hours of sleep at a time when I do” He admits guiltily.

“Hah, same. Who knew all that training in Med school would pay off like this?”

They had gone to Med school together, and interned at the same hospital. Carlos had stayed on at the hospital practicing Asher had moved on to family medicine. It had been a state mandate that all private practices be temporarily closed so that any remaining doctors could be centralized in one place. There had been a massive back lash from those that feared infection, and some had resisted, but ultimately most practices had collapsed into the central hospitals, either it was their patients gone, or the doctors.

“Sleep when you can, it’s sort of like the military I guess.” Asher suggested.

“Guess so.”

“How’s Amanda and the kid holding up?” He asked gently. These days it was hard to ask anyone about family. There was always someone that had been taken.

“Gone.” Carlos said.

“What?” Asher was surprised, he swore last week Carlos had said they were okay.

“Oh, no, sorry Ash. I meant she took Raquel and went to her parents cabin up north. It’s secluded and off grid. Tiny space, but we’re going to try to make it work. Wait it out.”

He turned to look Asher in the eye.

“I’m sorry Asher, but this is it. I have to go, I can’t stay. My family….” He trailed off as he emptily looked in to his coffee cup.

Asher didn’t really feel any surprise. He remembered the day he had first met baby R, the way Carlos and Amanda had proudly presented her to all the close family and friends who had gathered. The last time he had babysat her, she had just started with her whys and it had been a blast taking her to the park and listening to her discover the world.

“Carlos.” Asher breathed out.

“I’m sorry Ash, I’m so sorry man. I just, I have to think about Raquel and Amanda and….”

“Carlos” Asher repeated quietly again. “ It’s okay, I understand. It’s going to suck not having you here, but you need to go when you can.”

Carlos nodded.

“When do you go?”

“After this conversation. Before the curfew” Asher nodded his understanding. The curfew had been in place for a while now, a safety measure to keep people in one location. An attempt to stop the spread, but it wasn’t working. There were barely enough left to enforce it.

He stood up and held out his hand, waiting for Carlos to take it. Certain this was the last they’d see each other, he wanted to make it right. Show him all the respect and trust they had built up over the years.

Carlos stood up and pulled Asher into a hug.

“Take care, Asher” he whispered into his neck.

“You too, Carlos” He squeezed his friend. And then pulled back and drew his face in for a kiss. He felt Carlos tense in surprise, but not pull back. It wasn’t one of passion, but one of an intimate gesture of care. He pulled back, and laughed. So much for trying to hold up a professional showing of trust and respect.

Carlos gave him one last hug and a kiss on the cheek. He picked up the two cups and began to walk out the door.

“Carlos,” Asher called after him. Carlos stopped and turned to look at him. “Zero.” He said.

“Zero, today?” Carlos seemed surprised.

“No, zero this month”

He saw the light bulb go on in Carlos’s head. Although they both were assigned as triage doctors now, they had also been kept on rotation on areas that aligned with areas of expertise. Family doctor, meant Asher did rotations on maternity ward. He had told Carlos a few weeks ago that there seemed to be less babies, they both attributed it to the current world crisis, but then Asher had told him there were almost no conceptions. And now it had been a month since anyone in the 100 mile area had reported a successful pregnancy.

“Be careful up there” Asher said.

“Take care Asher” and with the slight nod of his head Carlos turned back out the door and walked away from Asher’s life.

Asher went to the table and picked up his oxygen mask, and pulled it over his face. He wondered, not for the first time if he would survive another day.

 


End file.
